


Driving Me Crazy

by harperslanding



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Autism, Autism Spectrum, Episode: s01e26 Ocean Gem, Gen, Phobias, autistic garnet, sensory issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 18:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21103772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harperslanding/pseuds/harperslanding
Summary: An insight into Garnet's thought process during the van ride in Ocean Gem, and the line of reasoning that led to her jumping out of a moving vehicle over music. Featuring autistic!Garnet.





	Driving Me Crazy

There's sand.

Sand everywhere. Nothing else visible for miles, and so dry, so completely devoid of mosture. Humans need water. 

That's why they need to find Lapis.

Thousands of years. Thousands of years of perfectly maintained status quo -- status quo that had started to fall apart when Greg came into the picture and virtually been destroyed at Steven's birth, yes, but it's hard not to see Lapis's existence as a deviation from their millenia-long pattern of ignoring the violent gem history of colonisation and being secure in the knowledge that Homeworld won't come for them, that Homeworld doesn't even know there are still living Crystal Gems.

Garnet doesn't like changes.

Lapis can fly. None of the other Crystal Gems can fly to stop her. Lapis wants to go home. 

Garnet can see futures where Lapis goes home. None of them are pleasant. One of them involves her fighting with a large, orange gem, presumably of some Quartz variety. It involves an unlikely friendship with a Homeworld gem that cares nothing for humans. It involves this friend unknowingly revealing the secret that she and Pearl have been hiding from Amethyst from the moment they found her in the Kindergarden.

Amethyst came from the Kindergarden. Amethyst grew up -- gems don't normally grow up, but Amethyst was something of a special case -- hearing about how Kindergarden gems were made to hurt others. She's insecure enough without knowing that she's defective. 

That's why they need to find Lapis. They need to poof her and take her back to the temple. It seems harsh but they can't let her leave until she understands why she can never go back to Homeworld, otherwise thousands of years of fighting for humanity will all be for nothing. They need to find Lapis and poof her. They need to find her and then work together to surround her so that she can't escape, and pin her to the ground before she can fly off, and _holy crap _Greg is driving so fast, they need to be quick to get to Lapis but he doesn't need to be _that _fast, these things can crash, Steven or Connie could be hurt and gems can be cracked in the collision, _slow down!_

Garnet's breath hitches. Gah! They're already in enough danger from Lapis without having to worry about a car crash. She tries to tell Greg to slow down but she can't find her voice. Pearl doesn't say anything. Pearl should say something! Pearl knows this is dangerous, Pearl is always worrying about Steven, Pearl needs to say something!

Pearl is too worried about Lapis to say anything.

The wheels screech. The engine roars. The van becomes a very claustrophobic place.

"How about some tunes?"

Garnet very nearly jumps at the voice. It's unexpected, forcing her out of her thoughts, and so _loud, _everything is so _loud, _she's already worrying about Lapis, she doesn't need to worry about it being _too loud --_

"This was one of Rose's favourites."

His words process too late and Garnet's voice fails her when she tries to object. The car starts blaring loud, obtrusive rock music, and it's _loud, _so loud she can't think, so loud it _hurts..._

In between the uncomfortable laughter of Pearl and Amethyst, Greg says, "What do you think, Garnet?"

Garnet doesn't hesitate to show him exactly how she feels, without spending unnecessary energy on talking, energy she doesn't have right now. She kicks the door open and rolls out.

Her physical form is stronger than most gems due to her status as a fusion but the impact still stings, and she grazes her body on the sand as she rolls along the ground. She struggles to her feet, bruised and in pain.

It's still not as painful as the van.


End file.
